What 'should have happened' was Katz cleaning house.
Lowe, MacTavish and Eakins turfed. Nicholson named interim GM. Nicholson then names an experienced interim coach (like Paul Maurice last year with the Jets) as a probationary try-out. In the off-season, Nicholson would do an exhaustive search for a GM, and then help the GM with an exhaustive search for an experienced coach. After the draft, totally rebuild that drafting and development program (neither which seem any good at all), and while they are at it, probably replace their entire medical team as they just don't know when a player is injured!
However, this move was actually a step in the right direction. Why?
If you look back at Darryl Sutter's years, I think his best days were when he was both the GM and the Coach. He had a great read on that team, and every single move seemed to add positively to the room, to the identity and to the performance of the team. Hindsight might point a different picture, but to me he was simply an amazing GM/Coach. When he released himself from coaching to focus more on this GM duties, every year the team 'lost something'. I do think he acquired more talent, but the identity got diluted and it became increasingly apparent he lost the pulse of the team. Led into some terrible coaching and personnel decisions, which led into some knee-jerk moves to try correct imbalances, and then cost him his job.
I do think that GMs don't have the level of access to a locker room as a coach does. They don't have that 'pulse' of the team as much as the coach does. I think in a dysfunctional Edmonton team, this is actually a good move for them. He will gain firsthand knowledge of who is really not buying into what, what that room really needs, who needs to be shipped out for the greater good, who is a cancer, etc. Sometimes a coach and a player do not get along, sometimes coaches play favorites, etc. I also do think that Lowe/MacTavish probably put restrictions on which players should play where in the lineup (as Renney alluded to a few weeks ago). Well, now MacTavish can see firsthand exactly what is wrong with this team, and try and make the adjustments necessary. I actually do think that this is a positive move under these conditions.
Also, we haven't seen a GM/Coach combo for a long time. However, I do think it is somewhat making a comeback. Roy was hired as a coach and 'sort of' GM - forget what his exact title is, but he has the ability to make personnel decisions including trades. Babcock is rumored to be looking for much in the same way in authority. I do think an EXPERIENCED and TALENTED coach can be a huge positive when given the ability to manage the team as well.
I also absolutely think that the problems go much further than Eakins. However, I do absolutely think that Eakins was a huge problem. Even in their 'tank years' for RNH and Yakupov, that team played with more heart and did a better job defensively. Sure, there were screw-ups, but OMG are they ever a laughingstock of the entire NHL now. It has been trending down with Eakins. Before the season started, most people thought Edmonton would get out of the basement - though I don't think anyone thought 'playoffs'. They should have at least been better defensively. They don't look like an NHL team right now. There is no semblance of any systems. Whether Eakins and his 'swarm' was simply a bad system, or the players never bought-in, or whether Eakins was simply unable to teach, Eakins simply didn't get the job done and the team actually regressed under him. A bottom of the league team regressing under a coach should ALWAYS fire the coach unless they are entering a rebuild.
As a Flames' fan, I 100% agree with the moves. Nelson is a pretty good AHL coach. I have no idea if he is NHL-ready or not, but he does have some familiarity with the Oilers players. Even though MacTavish will be coaching for an indefinite amount of time (which I do believe is mostly to gauge the team and the room before making personnel decisions), it is still a good opportunity. Once MacTavish leaves to concentrate on his GM duties in a month (or two??), and the team trends up with Nelson in charge, then a lot of GMs might take notice. I think it is kind of a 'no-loss' move for Nelson - gets his ears wet in the NHL and has absolutely nothing to lose.
What I really hope is that this team trends up enough to make a case for keeping Lowe and MacTavish. I do think they will trend up for a while after a certain amount of time - as another poster said, MacTavish is probably not a great coach, but at the very least he should be able to develop and implement some semblance of a defensive system. My hope as a Flames' fan is that they trend up enough to get out of the bottom 4-5 picks (which is asking for a miracle, I know) so that they don't draft a McDavid/Eichel or even Hanifin or Strome - and just as importantly, give MacTavish and Lowe one more year at least
I do think the housecleaning happens this off-season, however. I do think Lowe and MacTavish are done unless they pull-off some miracle the likes of which have never been seen in the NHL before.
I do think today's move was the first positive step in the right direction - from what I understand, Chabot was a positive step as goalies seemed to regress under his coaching, and seemed to do better when they got out of the organization (re: Dubynk and Trotz's comments, and his performance now). It was just too small of a positive step. This is a big step, and I sincerely hope it is big enough not to make even more important steps happen!